Apple Is Making Significant iPhone X Design Changes, Barclays Says

A research note from Barclays suggests that Apple will launch three new iPhone X models later this year.

A research note from Barclays suggests that Apple will launch three new iPhone X models later this year.

New leaks reveal that Apple is making significant changes in the designs of its new iPhone lineup to be released later this year. MacRumors shared a research note that it was able to obtain, which was made by Barclays analysts Andrew Gardiner, Hiral Patel, Joseph Wolf, and Blayne Curtis.

2018 iPhone X models will be smaller notch

The research note claims that there will be three new iPhone X models this year — a smaller-sized second-generation iPhone X, a larger iPhone X Plus, and a new mid-range 6.1-inch LCD model (which Forbes dubbed as iPhone X SE).

The analysts from investment bank Barclays said they remain confident that Apple will feature TrueDepth 3D sensor in its 2018 iPhone devices. Based on their meetings with suppliers at the CES last quarter, Barclays expect that the sensor will be a smaller notch but with improved specificity.

However, other speculations suggest that this major change would not be made until 2019. This is because Apple recently said that it will do away with the yearly major feature updates to make sure there fewer bugs and security holes. The annual release of new features is putting stress on Apple’s developers, which causes quality to suffer as workers are prone to make mistakes when they rush to meet short deadlines.

A redesigned home screen and Photos app are among the features that are supposedly coming this year but have been postponed. Barclays also previously said that a second generation Face ID would not be available until next year.

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iPhone X will not be canceled

Moreover, there have also been rumors that Apple will discontinue the production of its 2017 iPhone X when the new iPhone range begins production. The potential cancellation of Apple’s most lucrative product comes amid reports of a weaker demand for the iPhone X than the company has expected.

Harsh Chauhan of the Motley Fool, however, believes that iPhone X is here to stay. While there were fewer iPhone shipments last quarter, iPhone X has actually driven a jump in the average selling prices. Apple suppliers are also expecting massive increases in orders, which suggest that the iPhone X is not going to be stopped anytime soon. Finally, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that iPhone X has been its top-selling iPhone every week since it came out in November.